[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 115 (Thursday, September 6, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9192-S9193]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    OBSERVANCE OF THE OLYMPIC TRUCE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar No. 112, S. Res. 
126.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. Res. 126) expressing the sense of the Senate 
     regarding observance of the Olympic Truce.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution 
and preamble be agreed to en bloc, the motion to reconsider be laid 
upon the table, and that any statements relating thereto be printed in 
the Record, with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 126) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 126

       Whereas the Olympic Games are a unique opportunity for 
     international cooperation and the promotion of international 
     understanding;
       Whereas the Olympic Games bring together embattled rivals 
     in an arena of peaceful competition;
       Whereas the Olympic Ideal is to serve peace, friendship, 
     and international understanding;
       Whereas participants in the ancient Olympic Games, as early 
     as 776 B.C., observed an ``Olympic Truce'' whereby all 
     warring parties ceased hostilities and laid down their 
     weapons for the duration of the games and during the period 
     of travel for athletes to and from the games;
       Whereas war extracts a terrible price from the civilian 
     populations that suffer under it, and truces during war allow 
     for the provision of humanitarian assistance to those 
     suffering populations;
       Whereas truces may lead to a longer cessation of 
     hostilities and, ultimately, a negotiated settlement and end 
     to conflict;
       Whereas the Olympics can and should be used as a tool for 
     international public diplomacy, rapprochement, and building a 
     better world;
       Whereas terrorist organizations have used the Olympics not 
     to promote international understanding but to perpetrate 
     cowardly acts against innocent participants and spectators;
       Whereas, since 1992, the International Olympic Committee 
     has urged the international community to observe the Olympic 
     Truce;
       Whereas the International Olympic Committee and the 
     Government of Greece established the International Olympic 
     Truce Center in July 2000, and that Center seeks to uphold 
     the observance of the Olympic Truce and calls for all 
     hostilities to cease during the Olympic Games; and
       Whereas the United Nations General Assembly, with the 
     strong support of the United States, has three times called 
     for member states to observe the Olympic Truce, most recently 
     for the XXVII Olympiad in Sydney, Australia: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved,

     SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE SENATE WITH RESPECT TO THE OLYMPIC 
                   TRUCE.

       (a) Commendation of the IOC and the Government of Greece.--
     The Senate commends the efforts of the International Olympic 
     Committee and the Government of Greece to urge the 
     international community to observe the Olympic Truce.
       (b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate 
     that--
       (1) the United States Government should join efforts to use 
     the Olympic Truce as an instrument to promote peace and 
     reconciliation in areas of conflict; and

[[Page S9193]]

       (2) the President should continue efforts to work with 
     Greece--
       (A) in its preparations for a successful XXVIII Olympiad in 
     Greece in 2004; and
       (B) to uphold and extend the spirit of the Olympic Truce 
     during the XXVIII Olympiad.

     SEC. 2. TRANSMITTAL OF RESOLUTION.

       The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy of this 
     resolution to the President with the request that he further 
     transmit such copy to the International Olympic Committee and 
     the Government of Greece.

     

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